


an alphabet of nowhere

by Myrkkykatko (Vehka)



Category: Fire and Hemlock - Diana Wynne Jones
Genre: Canon Compliant, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-27
Updated: 2020-10-27
Packaged: 2021-03-09 04:49:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 227
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27229126
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vehka/pseuds/Myrkkykatko
Summary: 26 letters, 26 words, 26 drabbles:now, here / nowhere - and then what?
Relationships: Thomas Lynn/Polly Whittacker
Kudos: 3





	an alphabet of nowhere

**Author's Note:**

> So, um. 
> 
> First of all: English isn't my first language, so if you point any grammatical errors, you're absolutely free to point those out. Secondly, this will be exactly what it says in the summary: a series of 26 drabbles, one for each letter of the Latin Alphabet, and a little mediation on what happened after the events of _Fire and Hemlock_. 
> 
> (And thirdly: Laura, if you happen to stumble upon this fic, be warned: I'm not even half as good in English as I'm in Finnish.)

1\. _afterwards (adv.)  
at a later or succeeding time_

Afterwards - and even that word felt a bit off, since - well, afterwards was not quite right when you were fighting a very old and very dangerous faerie queen.

However, afterwards it took a while before Polly could dream about anything else. First few months, almost every night, she returned to that afternoon in the garden, and everything would happen again. And in the dream she wasn't ready to let go, she wasn't ready to fight, she made mistakes - and sometimes she even won. 

And when she won, that was the most terrible option of all, since in her dreams winning wasn't losing -

2\. _a bait (n.)  
something (such as food) used in luring especially to a hook or trap_

\- and she could get everything she wanted.

And then she woke up with dread, covered in sweat, since even in the dream, even when he kissed Tom and felt content and happy and warm all over, she could feel Laurel's cold eyes on them both. And yet: how could she let go, when in reality they were still trying to figure out how to get it right? Didn't she deserve those fleeting moments of happiness?

Those dreams were a bait, and Polly was afraid that someday she'd be too weak to resist it, and then they'd both get caught.


End file.
